Monster Camp

Last updated
Monster Camp
MonsterCamp.jpg
Promotional poster for Monster Camp
Directed byCullen Hoback
Produced byAaron Douglas,
Cullen Hoback
StarringShane Macomber,
Dave Overman,
Paul Vorvick,
Fern Zimmerman,
and Rebecca McNamee as The Strega
CinematographyCullen Hoback
Edited byCullen Hoback
Music by Speechwriters LLC
Distributed byMultivisionnaire
Release date
  • March 3, 2007 (2007-03-03)(Cinequest Film Festival)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Monster Camp is a 2007 documentary film that chronicles a live action role-playing game organization. Monster Camp looks at the lives of the participants, and considers the pro and cons of escapism through fantastical outlets. Freedom State director Cullen Hoback documents the fantasy world, following several participants over the course of one year.

Contents

The group followed is a Seattle, Washington chapter of NERO Alliance (now Alliance LARP), one of many live-action role-playing organizations in the US. Players create their own identities selecting from a variety of races and classes, similar to Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft. Participants dress up and are involved as either player characters, non-player character, or Plot Members.

It premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival 17 in 2007, where it received the Audience Award for Best Documentary. [1] Monster Camp screened at the Seattle International Film Festival [2] and the Corvallis da Vinci Film Festival. [3] According to the film's site, it has screened in approximately 40 film festivals around the world. [4]

Production

The film was shot largely at Millersylvania State Park in Washington State. While shooting, temperatures in the region dropped below zero degrees. The main weekend chronicled in the film occurred during the coldest temperatures recorded in the Northwest in 50 years. Many of the costumes worn by characters during this filming were abnormal. The lower temperatures during filming made it impractical to wear purely character specific clothing.

The film's score is done by California band, Speechwriters LLC.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle International Film Festival</span> Annual film festival in Seattle, Washington, USA

The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and features a diverse assortment of predominantly independent and foreign films, and a strong contingent of documentaries.

<i>Da Vincis Inquest</i> Canadian TV series or program

Da Vinci's Inquest is a Canadian dramatic television series which originally aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2005. While never a ratings blockbuster, the critically acclaimed show did attract a loyal following, and ultimately seven seasons of thirteen episodes each were filmed for a total of ninety-one episodes.

The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It is produced by Cinequest, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that is also responsible for Picture The Possibilities and the distribution label Cinequest Mavericks Studio LLC. Cinequest awards the annual Maverick Spirit Awards. In addition to over 130 world or U.S. premieres from over 30 countries, the festival hosts writer's events including screenwriting competitions, a shorts program, technology and artistic forums and workshops, student programs, and a silent film accompanied on the theatre organ. Founded in 1990 as the Cinequest Film Festival, the festival was rebranded in 2017 as the Cinequest Film & VR Festival and expanded beyond downtown San Jose to Redwood City. It took its present name in 2019.

<i>The Da Vinci Code</i> (film) 2006 American mystery thriller film by Ron Howard

The Da Vinci Code is a 2006 American mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard, written by Akiva Goldsman, and based on Dan Brown's 2003 novel of the same name. The first in the Robert Langdon film series, the film stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Sir Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow, Jean Reno and Paul Bettany. In the film, Robert Langdon, a professor of religious symbology from Harvard University, is the prime suspect in the grisly and unusual murder of Louvre curator Jacques Saunière. On the body, the police find a disconcerting cipher and start an investigation. Langdon escapes with the assistance of police cryptologist Sophie Neveu, and they begin a quest for the legendary Holy Grail. A noted British Grail historian, Sir Leigh Teabing, tells them that the actual Holy Grail is explicitly encoded in Leonardo da Vinci's wall painting, The Last Supper. Also searching for the Grail is a secret cabal within Opus Dei, an actual prelature of the Holy See, who wish to keep the true Grail a secret to prevent the destruction of Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Campbell</span> Canadian actor and filmmaker

Nicholas Campbell is a Canadian film, television and voice actor and filmmaker, who won three Gemini Awards for acting. He is known for such films as Naked Lunch, Prozac Nation, New Waterford Girl and the television series Da Vinci's Inquest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joey Travolta</span> American actor

Joseph Allen Travolta is an American actor, singer, producer, director and screenwriter. He is the older brother of actor John Travolta.

<i>Battle in Seattle</i> 2007 film

Battle in Seattle is a 2007 political action-thriller film written and directed by Stuart Townsend, in his directorial debut. The story is loosely based on the protest activity at the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2007. It later screened at the Seattle International Film Festival in May 2008 and received a limited theatrical release on September 19, 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiffany Shlain</span> American filmmaker and author (1970)

Tiffany Shlain is an American filmmaker, artist, and author. Described by the public radio program On Being as "an internet pioneer", Shlain is the co-founder of the Webby Awards and the founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Grabsky</span> British filmmaker

Phil Grabsky is a BAFTA-winning British documentary filmmaker who has received multiple awards for his directing, writing, producing and cinematography.

May Miles Thomas is a film director and screenwriter.

<i>Splinter</i> (2008 film) 2008 American film

Splinter is a 2008 American horror film directed by Toby Wilkins and starring Shea Whigham, Paulo Costanzo, and Jill Wagner. It was filmed near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It had a limited theatrical release on October 31, 2008. HDNet Movies aired the film two days prior to its theatrical release.

<i>Kicking It</i> 2008 American film

Kicking It is a 2008 documentary film directed by Susan Koch and Jeff Werner focusing on the experiences of seven homeless people at the Homeless World Cup football (soccer) game. Featured in the documentary, narrated by actor Colin Farrell were residents of Afghanistan; Kenya; Dublin, Ireland; Charlotte, North Carolina; Madrid, Spain and St. Petersburg, Russia. The film premiered in January 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival and is being distributed by Liberation Entertainment, Netflix and ESPN. It has received mixed reviews.

NERO International is a live action role-playing game (LARP) played in the United States. The NERO name originally was an acronym for "New England Role playing Organization", but the game has expanded well beyond its original New England roots and thus simply adopted the acronym as part of the official name.

Da Vinci is a brand used for a group of educational television channels, on-demand services, and mobile apps for families, owned by Macademia. Da Vinci services are available in 22 languages and in over 90 countries, across North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. It broadcasts STEM and soft skills-based learning programs aimed at children and families during the daytime, and documentaries and educational series for grown-ups in the evenings.

<i>Cleopatras Second Husband</i> 1998 American film

Cleopatra's Second Husband is a 1998 psychological drama written, produced and directed by Jon Reiss. Paul Hipp and Bitty Schram play Robert and Hallie Marrs, a young LA couple, who go on vacation, leaving their house in the hands of strangers. They return to find their fish as dead as the plants, everything in disarray, and housesitters, clad in the couple's clothes, refusing to leave. Zack and Sophie, the charismatic house sitting couple, soon infuse the repressed Robert with their erotically perverse irresponsibility. Robert, browbeaten and seemingly devoid of personality, is easily seduced by the sexy Sophie. When Hallie discovers the dalliance and leaves, Robert literally becomes the couples slave. He gives them control of his home, his credit cards, practically his entire identity, until one day, driven to the darkest edge of his psyche, he snaps. Partially inspired by a true incident, this gripping thriller is equal parts black comedy and psychological power play. The film's title "Cleopatra's Second Husband," derives from Hallie and Robert's relationship which is a parallel to that of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. The film was screened at Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival, Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival and the Bangkok Film Festival

<i>Killswitch</i> (film) 2014 documentary film directed by Ali Akbarzadeh

Killswitch is a documentary film about the battle for control over the Internet. The movie is a collaboration between director Ali Akbarzadeh, producer Jeffrey Horn, writer Christopher Dollar and Akorn Entertainment. It premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival in October 2014, where it won the James K. Lyons Award for Best Editing of a feature documentary and then made its international debut, playing alongside Citizenfour at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in November 2014. In 2015, it screened on Capitol Hill, as well as film festivals on four continents. Theatrical release was on March 1, 2015. Kathy Gill of GeekWire writes that "Killswitch is much more than a dry recitation of technical history. Director Ali Akbarzadeh, producer Jeff Horn, and writer Christopher Dollar created a human centered story. A large part of that connection comes from Lessig and his relationship with Swartz."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cullen Hoback</span> American filmmaker (born c. 1982)

Cullen James Hoback is an American film producer and director. He is also an occasional columnist and speaker. His documentary films include Monster Camp (2007), Terms and Conditions May Apply (2013), and What Lies Upstream (2018), as well as the HBO mini-series Q: Into the Storm (2021). His documentary style has been described as non-fiction horror with a comedic tone. He appears on-camera as a central character in Terms and Conditions May Apply and What Lies Upstream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amal Ramsis</span> Egyptian filmmaker

Amal Ramsis is an Egyptian filmmaker. She studied directing at the International Film and Television School in Madrid.

<i>Impossible Monsters</i> (film) American film

Impossible Monsters is a 2019 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Nathan Catucci and starring Santino Fontana, Natalie Knepp, Devika Bhise and Dónall Ó Héalaí. The film had its world premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival on March 9, 2019, and was released in selected theaters on February 14, 2020.

Far East Deep South is a 2020 American documentary film about a Chinese American family's journey to search for their family roots. Instead of leading them to the Far East to a remote village in China, it took them to the deep south into the small town of Cleveland in the Mississippi Delta.

References

  1. "Cinequest 17 Wraps" (PDF). 2007-03-12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-05-28. (Press release)
  2. "Monster Camp". 2007 Seattle International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  3. "da Vinci Film Festival 2008 : Monster Camp". 2008 Corvallis DaVinci Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  4. "Monster Camp". Listing and links to all festivals on official Monster Camp web site. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
Monster Camp Production Still: NERO Non-Player Characters (Carter and Matt) representing Lesser Finfolk UndeadLizards.jpg
Monster Camp Production Still: NERO Non-Player Characters (Carter and Matt) representing Lesser Finfolk